White House drafts ‘kill list’ rule book

By Connor Simpson

November 26, 2012

The secret list the White House uses to determine who to target with a drone strike, known as the 'kill list' -- or 'disposition matrix,' whatever -- is still highly classified, but we know there isn't a hard-and-fast set of rules they follow. Well, it seems like there will be soon.

“There was concern that the levers might no longer be in our hands,” said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity. With a continuing debate about the proper limits of drone strikes, Mr. Obama did not want to leave an “amorphous” program to his successor, the official said.